Kanji 西 — "West"
Here is what 西 means, how it is read, what it is built from, and a story that makes "West" stick.
How it is read
せい, さい, す
the reading borrowed from Chinese — usually appears in compound words
にし
the native Japanese reading — usually appears when the kanji stands alone
How to remember it
Kanji are not random strokes. Learn the parts and the whole becomes easy. Put the parts together into one picture. The stranger it is, the harder it is to forget.
The kanji and component are the same — West is west!
- 西 West
The West component looks like an empty sake bottle, because Western people drink sake so well that the sake runs out.
Words that use 西
8 of 8 words in the app that contain this kanji — the most common ones first.
- 西 にし west
- 西洋 せいよう the West, Western countries
- 関西 かんさい south-western half of Japan, including Osaka
- 東西 とうざい East and West, whole country
- 西暦 せいれき Christian Era, after (Christ's) death (A.D.)
- 西日 にしび westering sun
- 関西空港 かんさいくうこう Kansai International Airport
- 西洋化します せいようかします be Westernized
Want 西 to still be there next month?
Reading it once is not remembering it. The app brings each kanji back right before you would have forgotten it.
